


No Honor Amongst Mages

by haawk



Series: when they pulled me from the cold [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Pining, but they don't know it yet, idiots to lovers, inigo has known all long, langley is annoyed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:55:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29937897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haawk/pseuds/haawk
Summary: Inigo's headaches go away. Rumarin meets his new least-favorite mage. Fengari wins the scavenger hunt. Or, in which Inigo is a bad wingman, and Rumarin deeply misunderstands what's going on.
Relationships: Dovahkiin | Dragonborn & Inigo the Brave, Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Rumarin, Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Rumarin
Series: when they pulled me from the cold [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033335
Comments: 5
Kudos: 2





	No Honor Amongst Mages

When Inigo started getting his “episodes,” as Fengari had taken to calling them, Rumarin was worried. Rumarin was by no means incompetent with a sword or a bow, but Inigo was the best fighter between the three of them; he and Fen relied on Inigo. But it wasn’t just that Rumarin wanted to remain as far from the action as possible; he found that despite their short time together, he considered Inigo a friend. If Rumarin was worried, Fengari was nearly hysterical. She insisted that they take more and more rests on the road, and exhausted her magicka trying to discover the source of Inigo’s episodes every time he had one—not that Restoration magic was much use to him.

When Inigo said he had a clue to the origins of the pain, Fengari dropped all prior engagements to follow his lead. Frankly, Rumarin wasn’t sure how Inigo could be certain where in the snowy wasteland the tower was, but he went willingly enough. It wasn’t often one person could stand to be around him for long, much less two; Rumarin had already decided he would throw in his lot with them no matter what.

Snowpoint Beacon was bandit-infested, in the tradition of every dilapidated building in Skyrim. Fengari told them to stay put while she snuck up on them and Rumarin certainly wasn’t going to argue. He watched her slink up the stairs and out of sight, and the occasional bitten-off cry of alarm told him that she was making quick work of the bandits. Inigo was watching him intently and when Rumarin looked over, he smiled slyly, like a cat at a mouse in a trap.

“Fengari is very graceful, isn’t she? Hard to take your eyes off her sometimes, yes?”

Rumarin could feel his cheeks light up and prayed Inigo wouldn’t notice. “Oh no, I wasn’t- I wouldn’t- uh, she’s, you know- I’m glad she’s on our side.” Mentally, he cursed himself. _Incredibly smooth Rumarin, if that isn’t the least-suspicious thing to say._

Inigo’s smile grew into a toothy grin at Rumarin’s stumbling, but before he could reply, Fengari’s head appeared over the stairs. “All clear. Here’s something odd—apparently, a wizard came down the mountain to yell at the bandits.”

Rumarin thanked the Divines for her timing and latched onto the new topic. “A clue, perhaps? Whoever is causing this is making it terribly easy for us to find him.”

Fengari shrugged, “Dunno, might not be anything. We should keep an eye out, though. I don’t want some madman to catch us unawares.”

As they stood up to leave, Inigo cried out. Fengari was down the stairs in a flash and had a healing spell ready to go by the time she crouched down next to him. “It’s close! The source of the pain!”

Fengari’s face was as set and stony as Rumarin had ever seen it. “Right then. We’re going to go and settle this once and for all.”

\--

As Rumarin understood it, Langley was a weird, apocalypse-obsessed hermit who had been stalking Inigo for over a decade. Honestly, he would’ve preferred some monstrous lich to an overly-arrogant mage that kept suspiciously glaring, as though he expected Rumarin to start shooting lightening out of the tips of his ears. Nothing Rumarin wasn’t used to—what kind of useless, half-wit Altmer couldn’t cast a spell? Fengari seemed to share his discomfort, standing in between Inigo and Langley as inconspicuously as she could manage. Inigo either didn’t notice or didn’t care about Langley’s eccentricities and was bouncing across the cabin, taking in all the information he could.

Rumarin managed to catch Fengari’s eye a few times and almost made her lose her composure by mimicking Langley. Her shoulders shook with silent laughter even as she attempted to silence him with a glare, biting down on her grin. Langley turned around to ask Fengari a question, catching her by surprise. She tried to rearrange her face into something more neutral, but it wasn’t fooling Langley (judging by his scowl), and it definitely wasn’t fooling Rumarin. Langley glared at Fengari a moment longer, before asking her to fetch some eggs for him. _Trying to get rid of Inigo’s companions, always a good sign_ , Rumarin thought.

“Sorry, what?”

“Eggs! I need you to get eggs! You know, what birds lay.” Langley rolled his eyes, muttering something about having to deal with idiots.

Fengari crossed her arms, and Rumarin swore the air in the room dropped a few degrees. “You need…eggs? Sorry, but I’m not going to leave Inigo just because you’re feeling peckish.”

Inigo shook his head from over Langley’s shoulder, “My friend, it will be fine. Langley just wants to talk. I will whistle if he tries to kill me, I promise you.” Fengari stared at Inigo for a few moments, having a silent argument. Rumarin leaned against the door frame and counted the holes in the roof, waiting for Inigo’s inevitable victory. Finally, Fengari sighed.

“How many eggs do you need?”

\--

After nearly falling off a mountain—several times—and an encounter with an incensed mama bird, Fengari had the eggs and was waving excitedly to Rumarin from a little further down the path. Rumarin was lounging on Langley’s front steps practicing conjuring daggers, just glad he hadn’t been asked to help; animals didn’t much like him, the best example being from when his troupe decided to adopt a “trained” bear. The blasted animal spent its entire time with the troupe attempting to maul a young Rumarin, and it was about that time he decided he wasn’t much for pets.

Fengari made her way back up the path, with a lightness that would’ve surprised Rumarin if he hadn’t known her. She was agile—graceful wasn’t quite the word he’d use, sorry Inigo—but Rumarin thought it suited her. He liked the way she moved. In a purely aesthetic sense, of course. He shook himself from his trance as she reached the steps, sweeping the snow off the step beside him. “Got them all? I hope you didn’t crack any; Langley might throw a fit.”

Fengari snorted as she sat down, showing Rumarin all the eggs nestled in her bag. “I bet I could take him, even though he’d probably fight dirty. No honor amongst mages.”

“Thieves, actually. But I take your point.” Rumarin knew she put on all the anti-mage bluster for him, being an aspiring mage herself, but took a moment to feel pleased anyway.

She counted the eggs in her bag, looking contemplative. “I wonder what he wants them for. I’ve never used Snow Thrush eggs in alchemy.”

Rumarin leaned back, attempting to stargaze. He liked when she talked about alchemy, the same way he liked when she talked about anything. Fengari was a good talker, he decided; easy to listen to and never patronizing. She got people. “Probably some sort of egg-yolk based divination. An augur, perhaps?” Langley opened the door just then, peering around for the pair. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

\--

Inigo was being far too patient with Langley, in Rumarin’s humble opinion. Langley just wanted to preen, and there was no way any of them would allow it. Fengari was a good spellcaster, with what few spells she did know, and more to the point, her mageyness was bearable. Even if it was just his fondness for her talking. Langley should give her the tome, especially if it had anything to do with the power of friendship.

“My friend and I have a more immediate bond.” Rumarin whipped his head around, shocked. They had _what_? All this time? And he never noticed?

Langley’s surprise (and slight distaste) was evident on his face, and he made no attempts to hide it from his voice, either, “Oh, my apologies. I didn’t realize that you two were an…item.” Fengari made a strangled choking noise, somewhere between a sob and a snort. Rumarin turned around in a hurry and found her doubled over, holding onto the table for support. Brief alarm flared, before he realized that she was laughing.

“No, no, not like that. We are good friends, Langley, that is all,” Inigo replied, amused himself.

Fengari’s raucous laughter earned her more than a few glares and angry huffs from Langley, and he waved her out as she attempted to excuse herself. Rumarin, bewildered by two sudden shifts in his perspective, followed her. He could’ve sworn Inigo winked at him as he left. She was leaning on the railing on the porch and gasping for breath, trying to calm herself down in between fits of giggles.

“I can’t believe it. Makes me wonder.” She shook her head, still chuckling quietly. “Don’t tell me you thought that, too.”

Rumarin shook his head vehemently, “No! I nearly gave myself whiplash when Inigo said you had a ‘bond,’ I was so surprised. Really made me reexamine whether you had been flirting and madly in love with me all along.”

That nearly started up her laughter again. “Oh, no. Your observations were completely correct. I talked to Maramal right after I met you, just waiting for the right moment to slip on my amulet of Mara and propose.”

For some reason, Rumarin blushed, even if they were both teasing. “I hate to break it to you, but I’m not about to be tied down by rings, babies, balls, or chains, and especially not by some prophesied hero. Can’t have you taking up all the glory—you’ll be completely insufferable.”

Fengari rolled her eyes, but her grin gave her away, “Well, I suppose if anyone knows insufferable, it’d be you.”

“A low blow for such an exalted hero.” Rumarin put his hand on his chest and closed his eyes, looking wounded. He peeked at Fengari, but she looked as indifferent to his dramatics as usual. Rumarin gave it up, opting instead to brush the light snowfall off her shoulders. “Should we head back inside? I’d hate to see what sorts of questions Langley is asking Inigo about us now.”

“If you think asking questions about us is bad, wait until you see what sorts of books he keeps on his nightstand.” Rumarin cringed, already forming a horrible idea of what Langley did in his spare time.

“I think I’d prefer if you didn’t tell me, honestly.”

**Author's Note:**

> its erotica. langley has erotica on his nightstand. im so sorry.
> 
> when i first started this, it was a very different story. i'm pretty pleased to say my writing has improved a lot since then (i think) and i had to rewrite a lot of it to make it fit with my new storyline for fengari. yes, i have a storyline, isn't that surprising?
> 
> comments and criticisms are always welcome, and thank you for reading!


End file.
